Teenage pregnancy should be addressed urgently

Mmegi Editor | Tuesday April 4, 2017 11:57

Many of these school dropouts are young girls in their teens and majority of them at junior and senior secondary schools. Despite many prevention tools put in place, these young girls continue to engage in unprotected sex hence the many pregnancies we have seen recently. They are also putting themselves at the risk of contracting the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS.

There are many contributing factors to teenage pregnancy, among them lack of parental guidance; juvenile delinquency and the new kid-on-the-block – cellphones. The latter is a double-edged sword. Parents buy their children cellphones in order for them to communicate effectively during the time when they are separated by the distance. For instance, many parents leave home early in the morning to go to work and therefore the only way of communication with their children is through a cellphone.

For others, parents find themselves constantly on the road on official trips and therefore they can only be in touch with their children through the cellphone. The cellphone can be used to access the internet, something which enables our children to research and find crucial information they need for their studies.

However, there are children who use these important inventions on other endeavours that do not benefit their studies in any way, such as love affairs and pornography among others. The internet is a very important tool as it gives convenient and cheaper access to information, but it can also be a curse if it is not properly handled. There are all sorts of information that are found in the internet, some of which exposure can lead to corrupt minds, especially young and vulnerable minds of teenagers.

We therefore appeal to parents to ensure that they monitor and keep trail of the kind of information their children access on the internet and caution them about the dangers of exposing themselves to some information.  Of course, some parents can afford to buy expensive smart phones for their children, but that move does not help if the children decide to use such phones for things that have potential to destroy their future.

Bad use of the internet is the reason we are facing challenges like drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, use of vulgar language, violence, and even Satanism to mention a few. Let us all use technology properly and even most important, monitor our children, younger brothers and sisters, on how they use the technology. A contribution from one elderly person can reduce teenage pregnancy.

 

Today’s thought 

“Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate.” 

- Alvin Toffler